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"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

My Sweetly Scented Frenchman


Louis Philippe is a densely petaled rose.
Its color is intensely deep variations of magenta hues often with lighter streaks gracing the petals. Sweetly scented is each flower that matures to 1-3 inches in diameter.

I first met Louis at Florida Native Plants Nursery a couple of years ago. At the time I had long given up on growing roses in my Florida garden. But when I witnessed, in the middle of January, a rather large shrub blooming profusely in the shade of oak trees it was love at first sight.

Old Garden Roses or antique roses are characterized as having been discovered before 1867~~much younger than species roses. There are many subclassifications of OGR's and Louis Philippe is considered a China rose.

After purchasing just one to try my hand at this beauty it wasn't long before I added several more. It is remarkably care free and disease resistant. Who knew it was possible?
Just the thought of roses used to equal trouble in my mind. But now! It's easy to sing the praises of a cold hardy, evergreen, continually blooming rose like Louis Philippe.

Roses are typically heavy feeders and picky about location and soil. Not Louis Philippe or "Cracker Rose" as he is known in Florida for his reliability in our climate. Uncharacteristic of most roses, LP can be grown in full sun or part shade. I feed mine with blood meal, bone meal, compost, and any other organics like aged horse manure (when I get it) every 6-8 weeks.

What a perfect time for Louis Philippe to be so vibrant. Just in time to share the love in February and help celebrate Valentine's Day.

Adding to my romance with these treasured "old Florida" roses is the natural carpet of petals left on the ground from spent blooms.

What a joy to blend these shrubs into my naturalistic garden with such ease. I've got a thing for Louis Philippe. Every part of this handsome Frenchman is lyrically stunning ...

13 comments:

  1. I love LP too. He was one of my first roses, bought many, many years ago, along with Caldwell's Pink (Pink Pet). I rooted cuttings from the original so have several around the property. Your pictures show the beauty of LP. The scent is wonderful and the rose petals on the ground are a treat as well. I'm thinking of digging one up to move to a different location as it just gets too out of hand where it is.

    Thank you for this lovely post of one of my favorite roses.

    FlowerLady

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  2. Okay, now I have to find one!! Funny, I did a post on helping me rescue my roses yesterday...what a great Valentine rose Meems...and you said shade! Another plus for this Cracker!!

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  3. Gorgeous photography accompanied by wonderfully descriptive comments.

    Sherry Louer

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  4. I fully understand your love affair with LP. My little cutting has grown quite a lot and puts out blooms constantly. Just yesterday I cut back my other roses (LP is not big enough to need it) and fed everybody with Black Kow and Mills Magic. Your photos are beautiful.

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  5. Yes, I have also fallen victim to the charms of Louie. He is so sweet and gorgeous. What's not to love? He is actually my favorite all-time garden resident. I was just nose-deep in his blooms this morning, actually. : )

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  6. Meems, I just drove all the way to your favorite nursery Duncheon's to get two LP for Hillsborough's Positive Park. About one year ago Virginia Overstreet planted one up at the school and it is very happy. Leigh Spann is going to do a segment on Positive Park and I wanted the garden to be full of color. Thanks for all your great photos! Janis

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  7. I LOVE the photo of the rose petals!

    --Penny

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  8. Roses are a new love of mine. Thanks for sharing. Love your old Florida roses.

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  9. FlowerLady,
    Ah, all your roses are a treat to me! I think your LP(on the shed??) is huge. I have one on a fence that I'm letting sprawl all over it. The others I'm training a bit smaller.

    Darla,
    I left a comment on your blog about looking for one at Tallahassee Native Nursery. They probably carry them.

    Sherry,
    Hello, sweet friend. I can't remember if you have LP? It would work SO well in your front garden. :-)

    Kay,
    LP is just too easy - which I need if I'm going to grow roses. I might spring the $$$ for the Mills Magic this spring. It sort of takes out the guess work pre-mixed... even though it has the same ingredients in it that I use already. It's a great product.

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  10. FG,
    You do have a beautiful collection of LP. He is a most worthy resident as he is almost completely self-sufficient. I need that from as many plants as possible. :-)

    Janis,
    Just saw Virginia on Saturday at the extension ofc. :-) Positive Park will be perfect for another of Leigh Spann's videos. LP is going to fit in there so well with all those knockouts! Mr. Duncheon told me the other day he has lots more LP's at his other property where he holds plants. Yay... we wouldn't want to deplete his supply so early in the year. :-)

    Penny,
    Thank you. All natural ... not one petal was placed or moved... definitely good timing and I LOVE it too.


    Patsi,
    Me, too. But only the easy ones. Thank you for your visit and your kind comment.

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  11. Hi Meems...Louis seems to have that same effect on many of us...that devilish little guy! A long-time favorite...I just added a 3rd Louis to my garden. He truly is a carefree rose.

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  12. Susan,
    He is all the rage right now in the winer garden! Oh, you are going to love having more of these fellows in your garden. I just added another to the perimeter of the edible garden.

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  13. I have one too, from Rose Petals Nursery in Gainesville, Fl. They also ship gallon size too, and specialize in old and antique garden roses. Love your blog! The owner of Rose Petals has a motto, "Preserving history one rose at a time." I love old garden roses. :)

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Have a blessed day,
Meems


September 2010

Back Garden: October 2010

Louise Philippe: Antique Rose

Tropical Pathway